The Gospel According To Mr Potato Head

Amicus this week was something a bit different – mostly sensible! After enjoying the movie Toy Story 2 last week, we tackled the first section of our Connect bible study covering computer-animated movies.

The studies in this series, written by Scripture Union, each look at a modern piece of culture or entertainment, and then examine the Biblical themes within them. Topics as broad as the TV show Friends, generic soap operas, Harry Potter, Star Wars, global warming and the iPod are all covered. Back in January we took a vote, and chose the computer-animated movie study to look at first.

Toy Story captured the imagination of millions and was a box office smash; many thought that Toy Story 2 was even better. As well as breaking new ground with their computer animated graphics, the creaters of Woody and firneds had two noteworthy hits to their credit. But it wasn’t just the way it was done that made them so successful – it was the stories too…

So began the bible study, and we went on to look at the themes of imagination, belonging, rivalry and courage in the face of a tough task. If you’ve seen the movies, I’m sure you can appreciate how important a role these ideas play.

For imagination, we looked at the section of Job 40 in which God lavishly describes the behemoth. (Pop Quiz: Read the passage and have a think about what animal it might be. [Answer]) We also looked at a challenging section of Revelation in which Peter describes heaven. We were all very intrigued by the weird and wonderful beasties in this passage, particularly the four creatures “covered in eyes”.

We also spent a lot of time looking at 1 Samuel, and the relationships between Saul, David and Johnathan. Saul’s crippling jealousy of David’s prowess on the battlefield linked very well to the plotline of Toy Story, which has Woody seeing Buzz as a rival first, not a friend. Later in the chapter, David and Johnathan find the courage to cope with tough challenges through their friendship and devotion, echoing Buzz’s journey in Toy Story 2.

So as you can see, we took the opportunity for a calmer, more reserved evening very seriously. Still, there were obviously severalpassageswhich had us all giggling uncontrollably. Without that it wouldn’t be Amicus would it?!

Next Week: Serious prep time for the Promise Auction, now less than a month away. Eek!